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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

I've written about my love for Publix several times before. I'm so happy that we have moved (more on that later!) and are now close enough to Publix to do all of our shopping there. One of the many great things about Publix are their "Running Out? Run In." events. During these events, you can take advantage of great savings on your favorite General Mills and Procter & Gamble, such as Cheerios, Charmin, and Crest. We are always running out of toilet paper, so I'm sure we'll be picking up some Charmin while we're at Publix this week. During this Running Out? Run In event, you will get a free gallon of milk when you purchase any 6 of the participating items like Tide Pods, Yoplait Yogurt Kids, or Trix!

Thanks to the good people at General Mills one of my readers will win a $25 Publix gift card. Enter using the super easy Rafflecopter form below!

a Rafflecopter giveawayDisclosure: The Publix gift card, information, and additional gift pack has been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

We first discovered Hearts For Hearts Girls a little more than a year ago. Alex really wanted a new doll for her birthday, but didn't want the new doll to be her only birthday present. We went looking for some affordable, quality options for "big girl" dolls, and stumbled across the Hearts for Hearts Girls. At $28-$30, the dolls are reasonably priced. When I saw that they donate a portion of proceeds to World Vision, a ministry that we've supported for many years, I was hooked.

The Hearts for Hearts girls each come with a mini storybook that tells their story. Alex chose Consuelo, who is from Mexico. Her parents run a bakery and Consuelo comes up with the idea for how they can help feed the hungry kids in her neighborhood. We love that the Hearts for Hearts Girls are such great role models and help to inspire girls to change the world around them.

When Hearts for Hearts girls contacted us about having a party to share our love for these dolls, we were super excited! We were sent a doll for Alex & Emily to enjoy and another doll to give away at our party. The girls quickly fell in love with Nahji, who is from India. We decided to give away Lauryce, who is one of the newest Hearts For Hearts Girls.

Lauryce, from New Orleans

At our party, we served beignets & Cafe Du Monde coffee (just for the mommies!) in honor of Lauryce's hometown of New Orleans. We also had Indian Mac & Cheese bites. Speaking of the moms, they all loved the message behind the Hearts For Hearts Girls.

We were sent some "passports" for each girl to decorate and put stickers in. The passports showed how to say hello in each language that the Hearts For Hearts Girls speak. But mostly, the party was filled with lots of playing! The girls all loved the Hearts For Hearts Girls dolls.

Unlike some other dolls geared towards girls this age, Hearts For Hearts girls come with several accessories and have many small touches to make them unique and fun. For example, Nahji wears a choker and earrings, as well as a pearl headband. She also has strappy sandals, gold bangle bracelets, and a nose piercing.

Nahji's nose piercing

She even has a henna tattoo on her hand!

Nahji's henna tattoo

We were sent two bracelets for each girl at the party, so they could each keep one and take the other home to share with a friend. Each girl also received a coupon to get a discount off of the purchase of her very own Hearts For Hearts Girl doll. All of the girls were talking about which doll they wanted!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

I like labeling things, especially things that might get lost. I quickly found that Sharpies may be permanent on clothing, but will quickly fade on a sippy cup or bottle. Oliver's Labels are the most unique labels I have found! I love their bright and fun designs for kids. They offer photo labels that you can customize with your child's picture. They also offer allergy labels, something I wish I had found several years ago when my daughter had multiple severe food allergies. They even offer designs that are perfect for labeling items that belong to teenagers and adults. We received a sample pack of labels in the Sea Life design that included original labels, mini labels, Stick-eez clothing labels, and shoe labels. I love the vibrant colors and adorable little sea creatures. These labels are microwave and dishwasher safe and look great even after repeated washings. The colors are just as vibrant as the day we first received them.

I didn't think we would use the shoe labels. I had seen shoe labels before and wondered what kinds of kids needed labels in their shoes to keep from losing them. Apparently, kids like Jaxon!

He is awful about taking his shoes off -he is especially prone to removing (and losing) the right shoe! I'm glad to know that if he loses one at church, someone will know who it belongs to and will return it to us. The labels are cute, and he loves them! He points at them and says "neem" (name).

The clothing labels are neat in that you don't have to iron or sew them on. They stick securely to the tag of the garment. Perfect for daycare or school. The great thing is when you're done and ready to pass on or sell the item, you can just remove the label. For someone like me who likes to consign clothing, that's a great feature!

Oliver's Labels also offer a very unique (and free) service called "Found It." If you choose, they will add a found it code to each of your labels. If an item is found by someone else, they can visit Oliver's Labels website and enter the code on the labels.

Oliver's Labels will then notify you that the item has been found and will even act as an intermediary between you and the person who found the item so you do not have to share your personal information. I didn't add this to our labels, since I'm using the labels for things like sippy cups, but this would be a nice addition to things that older kids lose often at school that are not as easily replaced.

The only thing I didn't like about these labels is that they are difficult to peel away from the paper backing. They are extremely thin, which makes them look very nice on your possessions and less "sticker like", but that makes them harder (at least compared to other labels I have used) to peel. Keep in mind that I am Shaky Mommy, lol, and fine motor skills are not something I excel at, so you may not have this same issue. Right now Oliver's Labels is offering free shipping on orders over $30!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.